


You've Got A Lot More In Common Than You Think

by Numerix



Category: K-pop, TWICE (Band)
Genre: 10 Things I Hate About You AU?, F/F, Jihyo isn't single in this one, kind of, squint for mimo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 12:07:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13570293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Numerix/pseuds/Numerix
Summary: Jihyo hates everything Jeongyeon is. The only problem? She doesn’t entirely hate Jeongyeon.





	You've Got A Lot More In Common Than You Think

**Author's Note:**

> This underrated ship needs more content. Yes. Also, stop making Jihyo single, you cowards.

_Jihyo loves being punctual. Jeongyeon is always late._

 

“You’re late again, Ms. Yoo.”

 

“Yes, I know, Ma'am. Please accept my apology.” She walks slowly to the front of the room, her head bowed down and her voice solemn.

 

Professors shouldn’t have favorites, but it’s clear this particular one would prefer her over the other twenty-eight students in the room. “You are lucky that you’re a good student. You actually pay attention.”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Lee.” The girl proceeds to her seat and the class resumes before it was rudely interrupted by her sudden appearance.

 

A smile creeps up on her face as she approaches the only girl seated right in front of her. “You liked the show?”

 

She rolls her eyes at the casual flirtatious effort, but laughs softly nonetheless at the failed attempt of her definition of “cool.” “I would have preferred if the person who disturbed my class was someone who’s actually worth my time,” her words bite back.

 

Park Jihyo, the student who is not part of the other twenty-eight students and the intellectual rival to Yoo Jeongyeon. She can’t say she was a little offended when the professor only considered her as a good student but she’s had her fair share of praises before, so she sweeps this one under the rug.

 

What she can’t put aside is the blonde walking towards the desk right behind her, her back the view to which Jeongyeon is “forced to put up with” as she so eloquently place while also remarking it as “one of the greatest backs she’s ever seen,” her words laced with sarcasm and actual genuineness. Jihyo was surprised about that, but the girl was always known for her unabashed compliments, being one of the shameless flirts in school. Second only to Im Nayeon, a year ahead of them.

 

“Ouch, Princess Park. And here I thought you liked me.” Her voice calm and cool and soothing to Jihyo’s ears the way the words roll off her tongue as if she’s rehearsed this before.

 

But Jihyo is also calm and her best friend can attest that her own voice is just as soothing, and her words calculated, but casual. “What’s there to like about someone who’s always late?”

 

“Why don’t you find out?” Jeongyeon challenges her.

 

Jihyo leaves the question unanswered. If she doesn’t stop now, their banter would continue during the whole period and she sees no point in arguing with someone so stubborn as Yoo Jeongyeon.

  
  
 

_Jihyo likes school. Jeongyeon makes it unbearable._

 

The professor sets them up as partners for a project about how education contributes to the happiness of an individual. Both hate the idea of having to work so closely with each other but the professor reasons that collaborating with your worst enemy might be helpful in the long run. The two just eye their professor in a dazed and confused state. Jihyo would argue some more but is effectively shut up by Jeongyeon’s hand over her mouth and tells Mrs. Lee that they’ll try.

 

Jihyo sits right next to her this time in the library where the computers are located. Jihyo researches the education system in each country while Jeongyeon reads over a college graduate’s experience with school.

 

“Who even likes school?” Jeongyeon asks her. She slams her head on the table to signal her how absolutely done she is with the project.

 

“Me and Mina. Do you have a problem with that?” Jihyo barely spares the blonde a glance as she starts typing into the word document both shared between them. Their project isn’t due for another month but, on a mutual agreement, “The faster we get it done, the less time we have to see each other.”

 

Jeongyeon is awoken from her lassitude and turns her body from the computer screen towards Jihyo’s straight sitting figure that she has also complimented once or twice during their encounters. “Yes. Why do you do this to yourself? Do you just despise life or something?”

 

“Oh, stop over-exaggerating. You like school, too. I can tell.” Her eyes never falter from the screen so Jeongyeon sees this as an opportunity to test the poor girl.

 

“And what gave you that impression, Princess Park?”

 

“I see how your eyes light up whenever you understand something after every lecture. I don’t know why. You understand everything,” she lets it slip casually.

 

“A compliment from the Park Jihyo?”

 

Jihyo tries not to fall into her trap but it’s just so easy when it comes to Jeongyeon. She never can resist the blonde’s baits. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

 

“Thank you.” The gratitude was so softly spoken that Jihyo thinks her ears are playing tricks with her. It brings a smile to her face and she thinks that maybe Jeongyeon might actually be tolerable.

 

But then Jeongyeon gives her a greasy wink and Jihyo dismisses every nice thought she has.

  
  
 

_Jihyo loves her friends. Jeongyeon isn’t one of them._

 

Sana doesn’t know the repercussions of introducing Jeongyeon to the group, but Jihyo is going to give her a lecture before the day is over. Mina tries her best to rein in Jihyo’s annoyance, fearful of what’s going to happen once her best friend lays her hands on her other best friend.

 

“I’m fine, I swear,” she tells Mina after Sana and Jeongyeon leave the table to grab their food.

 

“I might believe you if your nails weren’t poking holes in my sleeve.” Mina pulls her sleeves from Jihyo’s grip, her wrath seemingly going down.

 

“What’s wrong?” Momo interjects.

 

Before Jihyo can answer, Mina’s words run ahead, a surprise to everyone really, “She hates Jeongyeon. I don’t know why when the two of you are the same person.”

 

Momo, curious, probes, “Why?”

 

“She just gets on my nerve sometimes,” she answers. “And for the record, Mina, Jeongyeon is nothing like me.”

 

Sana and Jeongyeon return to the table and Jeongyeon takes a seat across from Jihyo. She smiles a genuine smile before taking a bite of the burger.

 

Mina rubs circles on Jihyo’s back to calm her nerves, but she notices that Jeongyeon’s smile managed to do so in mere seconds. She draws her hand back and examines her best friend’s returned smile, a grin forming on her face.

 

Jihyo misses the hand on her back and peers over her shoulder to see Mina looking at her. “What? Is there something wrong?”

 

Her best friend shrugs before she resumes her math assignment. She would ask more but she knows not to disturb other people’s work, unlike some people she knows.

  
  
 

_Jihyo craves for silence. Jeongyeon just can never shut up._

 

“Of course, you’re here,” Jeongyeon announces her presence in the most obnoxious way Jihyo finds it. She exhales deep air to calm her nerves before she faces her “forced-to-be-friends-with-rival.”

 

“Can you not say that so loud? We’re in a library.” Jihyo returns to the book in her hands.

 

Jeongyeon looks around comically, though not really since her eyes continuously land on Jihyo. “You’re the only one here.”

 

“Mina’s looking for a book.” Her eyes are still fixed on the words on the page. If she focuses hard enough, maybe Jeongyeon won’t bother her.

 

She’s wrong. “Shakespeare? I would have guessed you were a tragedy kind of girl. But Hamlet has nothing on Much Ado About Nothing.”

 

She tries, she really tries not to cave in this time, but the blonde is making it extremely difficult for her. She relents so easily, “Excuse me? Hamlet is actually the greatest play Shakespeare has ever written.”

 

“I would much rather watch The Lion King than sit through five acts of that mess.”

 

She takes offense at this kind of slander and the way Jeongyeon smirks at her. She’s not sure if it’s hatred or if she’s hot and bothered by this, but Jeongyeon’s lips are making it hard for her to focus on anything else. She’s not sure if she wants to slap her or kiss her, but she does want to wipe that smug face off her.

 

Jihyo is not the physical type though, so she resorts to debate, which she realizes has left her with pits in her stomach she can’t quite decipher. She concludes that she will have to talk to Mina about that at some point.

 

“It’s still better than Romeo and Juliet. It’s barely a functioning love story.” Maybe she can take a jab at the play she noticed Jeongyeon reading during their lunch period all of last week.

 

“At least, Romeo and Juliet is iconic. But I will have to agree on the love story part. I don’t know why people put them on such a high pedestal when there are other couples out there who are genuinely in love.” She’s surprised that they agree on something, though she finds that they’ve been agreeing more as of late.

 

Still, Jihyo doesn’t give up that easily. “If this is your lead in to Benedick and Beatrice, then I’m stopping you right there. A Midsummer’s Night Dream is actually the only comedy the general public remembers from Shakespeare. Much Ado About Nothing? Only a footnote.”

 

Jeongyeon gasps sarcastically, her hand hovering over her chest. “Noted. But Benedick and Beatrice went from these two people who constantly argue over everything until their banter turned into who loved who more. They respect each other, admire each other, and truly love each other. You can’t top that.”

 

Jihyo nods along, agreeing to every word Jeongyeon expels. They really have been agreeing more than arguing. “You’re doing good so far. Thoughts on Macbeth?”

 

Mina walks in on Jeongyeon lost in thought and Jihyo completely mesmerized.

 

“I would prefer if you call it The Scottish Play,” Mina says.

 

“Oh, right. Theatre kid,” Jihyo acknowledges her friend’s return, watching her take her seat right next to her. She directs her gaze back to Jeongyeon who’s still staring at the ceiling as if it has all the answers in the world. Jihyo suddenly feels jealous. “Just so you know, if you get this question wrong, our friendship is over.”

 

This breaks Jeongyeon out of her daze. In Jeongyeon fashion, she smirks and inches her face dangerously close to Jihyo’s, “We’re friends now?”

 

Jihyo rolls her eyes as she hears Mina laugh. “Whatever. Just answer the question.” She moves back a bit, which disappoints Jeongyeon, obvious on her face when she also sits back in her chair.

 

“Better than Hamlet,” Jeongyeon mutters.

 

“Right answer.”

 

Jihyo likes the silence now but seeing this quiet Jeongyeon makes her feel uneasy. She pushes it down though to finish her book. Jeongyeon doesn’t interrupt her anymore.

  
  
 

_Jihyo hates fights. Jeongyeon is caught in one._

 

“Mrs. Lee is always praising you for your intelligence, but I know the truth now. How could you be so stupid for getting into a fight? Outside the principal’s office, too.”

 

Jeongyeon winces when Jihyo applies the ice to her bruised eye. “I really feel better now that you’re here, Nurse Jihyo,” she jokes.

 

She’s angry at the girl, angrier than she’s ever been at anyone. Other than the loud disturbance in the middle of the first period, Jihyo also had to pull Jeongyeon off the other girl. “Shut up. Why did you even hit her?”

 

“I have my reasons.” Jeongyeon can be serious at times. Jihyo commends her for that. She just wishes she was serious right now.

 

“God, will you stop being so stubborn?”

 

“I answer to Jeongyeon, actually.”

 

Jihyo doesn’t relent this time. She doesn’t laugh or crack a smile or argue. She glares and stares into Jeongyeon’s good eye, worried and annoyed at the same time.

 

It’s Jeongyeon that does relent though. “She was talking shit about Mina and Momo. Saying something about how an idiot like Momo is even in Mina’s league. Then her friend said that she doesn’t have standards and ‘Have you seen who she hangs out with?’”

 

She can only reply with a simple oh and accidentally withdraws the ice pack from Jeongyeon’s eye. Jeongyeon reaches for the ice pack, covering Jihyo’s hands as she pulls it back to her face.

 

The two of them are flustered by it before Jihyo has to return to class. She walks down the hallway with a pit in her stomach and her heart heavy knowing her banter partner isn’t there to bother her every day for the next week.

  
  
 

_Jihyo likes sweet things. Jeongyeon has a bitter taste on her lips._

 

The door opens to reveal a track-suited Jeongyeon with a bag of chips in her hand. It’s her last day of suspension and Jihyo takes it upon herself to visit Jeongyeon whom she surprisingly misses. Mina wasn’t shocked though when she broke their longstanding tradition of hanging out after on a Friday with the lame excuse of having to give Jeongyeon the notes she missed in class.

 

Jihyo gives her a once over and smugly grins to herself. “This must be what jobless culture looks like.”

 

“And to who do I owe to get a visit from Princess Park?” Always a gentlewoman, always a flirt, or perhaps Jihyo just brings it out of her.

 

“God. Are you going to let me in? I brought you coffee. I didn’t know how you like it so I kept it bitter.” She hands her the cup for Jeongyeon to take.

 

Jeongyeon’s not sure why she’s being nice but coffee is coffee and she’s not one to turn down free drinks. “I like it bitter. Thank you.”

 

Jihyo hums, “No problem. I prefer coffee with a lot of sugar. You do you, I guess.”

 

Jeongyeon offers her a bag of chips to which Jihyo says, “No, thank you. I ate on the way over.” The blonde gives a nod of understanding before she leads Jihyo to the couch she’s occupied for the last four days.

 

They’re seated closer than they’ve ever been, a narrow slip of light from the television just between their shoulders. Their fingers are so dangerously close that it takes everything in Jihyo not inch it a little more closely. She finds that their moments have been filled with so much tension lately and how empty it’s been since their last meeting at the nurse’s room. She balls her hand into a fist, her veins popping out, the skin turning red.

 

It’s also eerily quiet, save for the television playing the Sailor Moon theme song. Jihyo swallows the saliva building up in her mouth as she tries her best to pay attention to the show. Jeongyeon’s quite an irritating distraction for her, but she’s always welcomed it anyways, so she’s partly to blame.

 

Jeongyeon shifts her body which garners the attention of Jihyo. She moves her face to watch what she’s doing until she sees Jeongyeon’s face right in front hers. So close are her lips, so desirable. Her eyes so soft and so wanting. She’s the epitome of frustrated and flustered and she’s not sure if she enjoys it or not.

 

Jeongyeon definitely enjoys it though. But her actions speak otherwise as she hesitates during her moment of bravery. Jihyo knows where she’s going with it, but she’s still rigid in her place, anxious and afraid.

 

“If we kiss now, everything’s going to change,” Jihyo points out.

 

“I don’t care,” Jeongyeon simply tells her. 

 

Jihyo feels her own boldness rising when she pulls Jeongyeon in by the neck. Their lips meet for the first time in the middle of Jeongyeon’s living room, with coffee both on their lips. It’s a chaste kiss, too short for both their liking but neither of them knows what to do next.

 

Jeongyeon takes the initiative and pulls the sweet girl in for one more kiss, a longer and more meaningful one this time. Jihyo stops to take a breath before reining in the girl once again to pull their bodies to her side on the couch.

 

Although Jihyo detests the bitterness of Jeongyeon’s mouth, she can’t help but melt at the softness of her lips and the gentleness of her touch on her face.

  
  
 

_Jihyo loves simplicity. Jeongyeon manages to make things complicated._

 

Jihyo sits at the foot of Mina’s bed, complaining about how Jeongyeon hasn’t texted her since their “make-out.”

 

“I’m sure she’s just figuring things out on her own. You are, too,” Mina reasons. She’s always Jihyo’s voice of reason and Jihyo as Mina’s, a benefit that came with the friendship.

 

“Yes, but a simple text could have sufficed.”

 

“What’s the poor girl to say? ‘Had fun kissing you tonight. See you in school’?” Mina doesn’t speak often, but she talks to Jihyo, a lot. And she’s usually the one guiding the younger of the two. It’s rare for Mina to step in and be the older sister, though she’s has a great share of tackling on the role. It’s been Jihyo for the most part.

 

“Maybe?”

 

Mina raises her eyebrow, a silent really escaping her lips.

 

Jihyo is thankful for Mina as her best friend. What she isn’t, though, is the girl who kisses her then leaves her the next day. Perhaps she’s over-exaggerating but Jeongyeon’s radio silence really tells a lot.

 

“I don’t even know why I care. Jeongyeon and I argue a lot. So if we were ever to get into a relationship, it just wouldn’t work out. Your poor ears would have to suffer through our incessant arguing.” All she can give are excuses. Her last reasonable thought regarding Jeongyeon was probably the first day the met and after that, all sense went out the window.

 

She’s infuriating, noisy, challenging, and brings out the worst in Jihyo. But she’s serious, friendly, genuine, and brings out the best in Jihyo. It frustrates Jihyo to no end. Whether it be the butterflies on her stomach or the irritation of her presence, Jeongyeon frustrates Jihyo to no end.

 

Mina is frustrated, too, at how much of an idiot her best friend is and her best friend’s “worst enemy.”  “No, my poor ears would have to suffer through your incessant flirting. I need to record you two to show how disgusting and shameless you are. You’re like Benedick and Beatrice.”

 

“We don’t flirt. We don’t like each other. She hates everything I like.”

 

They’re the worst rivals Mina has ever seen and the worst at concealing their feelings for each other. They’re awkward, though only confident when they have something to argue about. They make sharp comebacks, but bite their tongues when they think they’re going too far. They annoy each other, though they still find the time to slip some kind of pick-up line. They hate each other, but can’t find it in their loving hearts to actually hate a person. They’re intelligent, but they’re stupid in everything else surrounding their relationship.

 

“Oh sweetie, you’ve got a lot more in common than you think.”

  
  
 

_Jihyo hates Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon doesn’t believe her._

 

“I came to apologize.”

 

Jihyo closes her locker door and walks away from Jeongyeon. The blonde follows her much to Jihyo’s annoyance. “You’re always saying sorry.”

 

“And this won’t be the last. Only if you accept my offer.” She catches up to her in front of Mrs. Lee’s classroom, empty with no students or Mrs. Lee in sight.

 

“What is it?” The younger walks to her desk. She always did like being punctual.

 

“Go on a date with me. And if it goes well, be my girlfriend.” It rolls of Jeongyeon’s tongue so smoothly that Jihyo hates how normal she sounds. There’s no nervousness or jittery limbs, only a confident Jeongyeon who thinks she can win Jihyo over with a bouquet of roses. She doesn’t like roses, anyway.

 

“You’re in class early, for once,” Jihyo comments. “Revel in it.”

 

Her voice assumes a serious tone, her eyes filled only with the sight of Jihyo. “Jihyo.”

 

She ignores her pleas, pulling out a book to read as she waits for the school bell to ring.

 

“Jihyo, I ran about a million scenarios in my head about how this would go: how I would ask you, how you would react, how I would react to your reaction,” she confesses.

 

Jihyo guesses she judged her too quickly.

 

“Nearly every single one ended with you saying yes.” Maybe she didn’t.

 

She rolls her eyes. “What makes you think I won’t say no?”

 

“Because you never could resist me.” Jihyo knows this. She won’t admit it though. She won’t give her the satisfaction.

 

“Your arrogance won’t get you anywhere.” She convinces herself that she’s clever for the quick remark and that she won’t crumble even though she’s seated at her desk. The way she’s looking at her though with those soft eyes just make her knees go weak.

 

“It did with you.” Her tone softens as if she’s reluctant with her words now. It’s not an act. Jeongyeon is the worst actress she’s ever known and she fails at faking sincerity. All the things Jihyo knows about Jeongyeon shakes her to her core because for someone she claims to hate a lot, she sure does loves all the things that she is.

 

Their relationship is built on sharp comebacks, casual flirting, and excessive competition. Of course, Jeongyeon won’t give up easily. And, of course, Jihyo finds herself liking this a little too much. Maybe it’s how Jeongyeon pouts her lips and how her eyes look into hers as if she holds all the answers in the world.

 

“Please, Just give me a chance.”

 

Jeongyeon just needs to hear one answer. Jihyo gives her one.

 

“One date. Then we’ll go from there.”

 

The right one.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. Comment if you liked it, hated it, or somewhere in the middle.


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